Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning 40-yard dash time: Which legendary QB comes out on top?

Although Tom Brady is often regarded as the greatest player in NFL history, Peyton Manning, his long-standing rival, is also regarded as one of the league's all-time greats.

In fact, by the time Brady was starting his historic tenure as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, Manning had already assumed the position of the NFL's top quarterback.

As a fan of the NFL, you presumably already know how fantastic these two were when they were players, but you probably had no idea how they performed when they were put through physical testing at the NFL Combine. Here, we'll examine Manning and Brady's 40-yard dash times from their individual combines.

A look at Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's NFL Scouting Combine performances

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning had illustrious careers, but judging by their NFL Scouting Combine numbers, they weren't the fastest players in the league when they were active.

Only Chris Redman's 40-yard time of 5.37 seconds was slower than Brady's 5.28 seconds among quarterbacks during the pre-draft event in 2000.

Brady's slow and clunky running made him a far less appealing prospect athletically at the time, and his overall performance at the combine prior to the 2000 draft left observers with modest expectations.

Brady had to wait until the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft before the New England Patriots selected him with the No. 199 overall pick due to his lackluster performance at the combine.

Manning's 40-yard dash time was not exceptional, but it was better than Brady's. The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback ran a 4.8-second 40-yard dash, but that didn't affect his stocks as he still went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that year.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning had legendary careers despite slow 40-yard dash times

Even if Tom Brady and Peyton Manning didn't come to life during the NFL Combine, they did light up the league for many years, winning several MVP awards and Super Bowls.

Manning had nearly 72,000 passing yards and 539 touchdowns by the end of his 18-year career. He was also a five-time NFL MVP, a two-time Super Bowl champion, a 14-time Pro Bowler, a seven-time All-Pro and a two-time Offensive Player of the Year. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

Also, Tom Brady, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots during his career, amassed 649 touchdowns and 89,214 passing yards. He was an NFL passing touchdown leader five times, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, a 15-time Pro Bowler, a five-time MVP of the Super Bowl and a six-time All-Pro.